Novel must come from approved list
One student per novel
Length:
Introduction (blurb): 250 (minimum) – 400 (maximum) words
Analysis: 1250 (minimum) – 2000 (maximum) words
Minimum of three critical approaches with at least one from each category: plot, character, others
Absolutely no source material other than class materials (textbooks, Course Content, notes)
Demonstrates intimate knowledge of the novel
Demonstrates thoughtful application of course concepts to the novel
Demonstrates proper grammar and usage

The novel analysis must be typed and double-spaced on typing paper, front side only, with one inch margins on all four sides. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Novel Analysis

This assignment has three components. Each student will

Carefully read a work of fiction from the selected reading list
Write a one (1) page (250 word) introduction to the novel.This introduction will identify
the major characters with a brief description of each
the setting of the story: time, location, any special characteristics
the central conflict in the story – What is at stake? What problems is the novel addressing? What direction is the novel taking?

However, while this introduction may indicate where the novel is going, it should not explain how the conflict is resolved in the end. In other words, do not summarize the novel. Instead, this introduction should be similar to the blurb of a book.
Write a five (5) page analysis (1250 words minimum, 2000 word maximum) of the novel, explaining the ways in which myth underlies the novel, how myth is used in the novel, how any particular myth may be modified in the novel, how the various theories and approaches to myth can open up the novel to a reader, and an explanation for the choices made by the author based on the student’s own perceptions of the work without reference to resources other than the work of fiction itself. Students must incorporate at least three (3) different critical approaches to their novel including a plot approach, a character approach, and one approach from the others category. The student’s aim in the analysis is to demonstrate to the instructor that the student can apply the various ideas and theories about myth studied in this class to a work of fiction.
Give a brief summary of the approach being used, including identifying its source
Define the specific stage, trait, or nature of the approach being applied, and
Indicate the specific details from the novel that demonstrate the theoretical approach defined.
The three required approaches must be developed with significant details covering a significant portion of the approach.

Some possible approaches to the analysis

Plot Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of one required
Campbell’s monomyth (use the simplified 11 stage version ONLY) (Must apply at least five stages of the monomyth to the novel)
Lord Raglan’s “hero of tradition” (must apply at least 5 of the 22 typical incidents to the novel)
Propp/Hastings 31 functions of the fairy tale (must identify at least 7 functions) or Waller Hastings’s Simplified Version of Propp (must use all five)
Character Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of 1 required
General archetypal characters (Must apply to at least three different characters with signficant details)
Male/Female Divine archetypes (Must apply specific types to at least three different characters)
Woolger and Woolger’s The Goddess Within
Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Every Woman’s Goddess
The Triple Goddess (Godesses of Life, Death, and Regeneration) (Leonard & McClure)
The Male Divine Archetypes (Leonard & McClure)
Propp’s functional characters (dramatis personae) of fairy tales (must identify at least five and explain how the functions apply in detail)
Carol Pearson’s six archetypes (must identify at least three or apply at least three to the same character)
Italian stock characters (must identify all four and explain in detail)
Jungian archetypes – self, persona, shadow, anima/animus (must apply all four in detail)
Freud- id, ego, superego (must apply all three in detail)
Other Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of 1 required
Great Goddess and the Warrior King/Stag King – Frazier, Gimbutas, Graves
Binary oppositions and coded language – Marx, Claude Levi Strauss
Van Gennep’s initiation rituals (include at least one ritual explained in detail as it relates to Van Gennep’s ideas)
Sacred and profane space – Mircea Eliade
Sociological/Anthropological approaches – Frazier, Graves, Malinowski
Rituals – Levi-Strauss, Eliade, Frazier, Raglan
Myth as ideology – Lincoln, Levi-Strauss (In what way does the novel illustrate a specific ideological viewp01oint, e.g. Christian, Buddhist, capitalist, communist, feminist, racist, and so on. How does this ideology shape the novel and its characters?) This is a difficult approach and will require extensive explanation.
Weigle creation types (ONLY if story includes a creation myth)

This is not a research assignment. Students may not use any source material other than the work of fiction itself. Again, students may not use any resource materials for this assignment other than materials presented in this course. Under no circumstances should students be reading any materials that discuss their novel. Students who use materials to discuss the novel that are NOT part of the course content will be charged with a violation of academic integrity, will receive a zero for the assignment, and will fail the course.

No two students will read and write about the same work of fiction. A reading list is attached. Click on the link to view the reading list. When you are given the option to download the list, clicking on the link will open the list so that you can read it.

Students in the online courses should e-mail me their choices using our course e-mail. Students in campus courses will select novels in class by lottery. Novels will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Students are required to submit this assignment. Students who do not submit this assignment are ineligible to pass this course.

Work Ethic Credit: To earn the Work Ethic Credit for this assignment, the student must submit the completed paper at least three hours in advance of when the Dropbox closes.